Deeper and deeper we walked step by echoey agonizing step down the concrete staircase, we couldn't see anything or anyone, so our brain began to play tricks on us. Green could swear he saw someone just ahead of us, keeping pace but not moving a muscle, immediately we were reminded of the slime monster and how it moved without any ambulatory motion, but it didn't seem to be doing anything else either.

  Eventually, Green had it and closed his eyes, it wasn't much of an improvement, "Fuck this, I need light!".

  Without any response, our sword lit up the passageway, glowing with a yellowish glow that mimicked a candle, "ah, that's better, HOLY SHIT MY SWORD GLOWS!" To which Desirè responded angrily, "What's better? If it can glow then light it up, I still can't see shit.".

  Green looked at her, "The corridor's all lit up now, you're gonna tell me you can't see anything?"

  Desirè growled at me, still clinging to my sleeve, "This isn't funny, Green. I'm not laughing. Stop it!"

  The Sword giggled like a terrible myriad of fucking children as our new friend got all anxious, I huffed and grabbed for her hand, "It's OK even if you can't see, I can."

  She fumbled for a bit as we switched sides, eventually, I found her hand and she gasped, blinking hard as she got used to the light, "holy shit what kinda magic bullshit is your sword even?"

  I shrug and we continue, eventually becoming all too aware of the black trail that slithered down the stairs a ways before turning towards the wall and then going up it to yet another vent, he'd escaped me once again.

  "Damn it..." I groan and Desirè nudges me, "Hey, worry about your boyfriend later, we have a Dragon to woo."

  Green and I got to thinking about this, then something occurred to me.

  "Desirè you said you'd been down here before, why haven't you tried this already?"

  She sighed, "got attacked for my trouble, but not by the dragon, he just roared and chased me, I was actually attacked by this...thing they keep down here with him... it's like a kid...but shrouded in living darkness..."

  Green raised an eyebrow, "go on."

  "It was some sort of living shadow...I can't explain it effectively, we'll have to kill it before we get to the dragon though."

  When She didn't say anything else, Green didn't elect to start the conversation back up again, it was odd, because I think this was the only time Green had ever been forced into silence by his own contemplation of a possibility.

  After a long tenuous silence, Finally we reached the bottom of the stairs, immediately in front of us was a large metal door like the door we'd come through, this one was ajar instead of wide open, but it had some type of runes inscribed in lines all around the door, the script was one I recognized but I couldn't place it, but then I looked at the softly glowing sword in my hand, the word I had previously believed to be in English carved into the blade was in the same script and for some reason Green and I had understood its meaning and seen it as English originally, beyond this revelation, I couldn't discern the writing on the door.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I wanted to say something, but it felt like there was a weight on my very being, it's not like I couldn't, not like I was incapable, but it's like when you're in a church and its deadly quiet, so quiet all you can hear is crushing, ringing silence and yourself breathing, and for some reason it just doesn't feel safe to speak.

  I looked at Desirè, she looked just as terrified as I moved to open the door. The door made a loud, ungodly wrenching sound as I pushed it open. I stood stock still after I'd finished opening the door, half expecting to be struck dead, or ambushed or SOMETHING, but nothing came, so I pulled Desirè along as she still held desperately on to my hand so she could see.

  We were walking for a while before I realized that there WAS no labyrinth, it looked like a wide open room, "I was picturing something like the maze of the Minotaur."

  Wordlessly Desirè guided me to the left, showing me the wall of the chamber, at this point, I began to see the proper shape of the chamber. floors, walls, all of it as far as I could see was made of what looked like super smooth black marble, still without saying anything she walked me along the wall, and after 30 seconds of walking, another passageway was revealed in the limited light of the Blasphemy's glow, it was JUST as wide as the corridor we were already in, "holy shit." Green said, "That dragon must be...huge."

  Desirè nodded with a shiver, apparently still under the effect of whatever fear ward we had walked into.

  "So..." I chuckled, "Which direction are we going?" I decided to ask, now that I had the nerve to speak again.

  "Neither." Said a small-sounding voice behind us.

  I wheeled around and pointed the glowing sword at the source of the noise!

  It was a child, a grey-blue skinned 7-9 year old with tightly curled black hair, wearing a prisoner's uniform, Desirè hid behind me!

  "Hey there little guy..." Green tentatively smiled, "do you know which direction the dragon would be in?"

  Finally, Desirè spoke, "That's him! That's the weird kid!"

  "I'M NOT WEIRD!" The darkness began to churn around him, the shadows manifesting shapes like animals, teeth, claws, eyes, tentacles, tears began to form in the kid's eyes, "I'm not...i'm not..."

  "Oh yeah, then why did you attack me?" Countered Desirè

  Green Jack slaps Desirè, having not expected it she fell to the floor with a pained yell, "You stupid bitch, don't call the kid weird, he's such a little cutie!" The tone with which Green said this was one I wasn't very familiar with, "I'm sorry about my friend, Little man, come here, what's your name?"

  The boy was still sniffling as he walked over to us, looking up at us with big puffy eyes, "M-Markus..." he sniffled, "Monsters always come down here and try to hurt my friend and I...I keep him safe!"

  Green pats him gently on the shoulder, "What a strong little dude! Hey, man listen...we're here to break you guys out, all we need is some help from the Dragon."

  Markus looked at me with hopeful curiosity in his black eyes, "really? You want to help us escape?"

  Green nods with a wide, warm smile, "You look like you could use a hug, bring it in!"

  Then, sword arm still raised to keep the illumination even, extended a single arm to Markus, to which he quickly responded with a rushing hug, wrapping his arms around my stomach and pulling himself close as he started to cry, I was getting a bit teary eyed myself, but then I saw Green move our sword arm, he was positioning to strike, NO! NO, YOU FUCKING DON'T!

  I kept a firm arm around Markus's tiny body as I wrestled with Green for control of our body.

  The following conversation is internal, I am not shouting this out loud.

  "WHY!? HE'S JUST A KID!"

  "This "kid" is down here for a reason! If we don't do this then he'll escape WITH US!"

  "Down here in a place full of UNKILLABLE threats! All you'd be doing would be making him angry! And he's A FUCKING KID!"

  "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT FINE!"

  After a long long hug and some much-needed crying from Markus, Green let Markus go, saying to me internally "on your head BE IT!" Before going back to his friendly babysitter voice, "so, Markus, can you show us to the Dragon?"

  Markus nodded enthusiastically, wiping his nose and face in the normal Allergy salute before walking down the center hallway of the maze, revealing as he did that human bones cover the floor of the obsidian maze down this way, "Dragon likes to be left alone usually...But I think he'd like you."